St. Johns Christian Academy To Name Dr. Jerry Brown As head Football Coach

St. Johns Christian Academy To Name Dr. Jerry Brown As head Football Coach On Monday Afternoon, Former Berkeley High & SC Star Athlete Bruce Ellington Will Also Be Named A Top Assistant Also

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher

Moncks Cormer—Dr. Jerry Brown, who coached up five state championship football teams in coaching stints at Spring Valley, Berkeley, and Batesville-Leesville between 1985 and 2022; becoming only of three coaches to ever accomplish such a feat in state history, will be introduced as the new head football coach at St. Johns Christian Academy at the football stadium at the school at 4 p.m. Monday.

At the same event, former Berkeley High two-sport star Bruce Ellington, who went on to play basketball and football at South Carolina, will be introduced as a top assistant coach with Coach Brown at the school.

In a late Sunday night call to the HSSR from St. Johns Christian Academy Head of School Becky Ellison, was elated that both Coach Brown and Ellington would be reuniting with each other, and the plan is to have them meet with the team at 9 a. m on Monday morning.



“We are beyond excited, and very appreciative to have Dr. Jerry Brown and Bruce Ellington to come on board to help rebuild our football program,” said Ellison, a three-time former HSSR all-state softball player from Stall High School, where she helped lead a team to a state title. “We are inviting the media to attend a 4 p.m. press conference on our football field on Monday afternoon to introduce both Coach Brown and  Bruce Elvington.”     

Dr. Jerry Brown's Career Coaching record (as verified with intense research from HSSR historian Gerald Doolittle on Sunday night) reveals a 296-149 record at the conclusion of Brown’s last season at Berkeley in 2022.

Here is a break-down of Coach Brown’s 37-year journey in coaching: Spring Valley 1985-1989 Record 48-14 State title in 1988 finishing 12-2; Fairfield Central 1990 1992 12-23 record, Berkeley 1992-2010- Record was 176-64with State Titles in 1994 (15-0), 1996 (14-1) & 2009 (9-3). Bateburg-Leesville-2012 & 2013-17-8, with AA State title in 2013 with 12-2 record; Spring Valley-One season in 2014-with 6-5 record, Northside Christian in 2016 with 3-6 record; Wade Hampton between 2017-2020 with 29-14 record, and back at Berkeley- 2021 & 2022 with a 5-15 record (missed some time coaching dealing with health issues of his wife, Mary Ames Brown.) 

Coach Brown is a member of the SC Football Coaches Hall of Fame. In his coaching career he has been named Statewide Football Coach of the Year Five Times by The High School Sports Report & other news organizations. 

Coach Brown played in the 1967 Shrine Bowl as a player from Winnsboro, SC. He was an assistant Shrine bowl coach in 2000 and in 2022 he was the head Shrine bowl coach as the Sandlappers won the game 17-13. Coach Brown also served as both an assistant and head coach in the annual North-South all-star football game at Myrtle Beach. Coach Brown was 4-0 in the four all-star games he served in.